I Feel Stupid
From the Archives
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06-Feb-2015
A charming coming-of-age comedy about Lein, an awkward 15 year old girl caught between life stages. She falls under the sway of Amber, an almost 17 year old who wears lots of makeup & tight jean shorts, and begins to feel the pressure of becoming a young woman. Lein's search for a new sexual identity comes at the expense of her friendship with Robbie, a younger neighbor kid who only wants to talk about Grand Theft Auto. She begins to distance herself (“Robbie, I don’t have time to watch you kill prostitutes today.”) but clings to her hobby of keeping 23 pet birds. Listing off all their names to an unimpressed Amber, Lein picks a favorite, a bird named Murder, who, “has social anxiety disorder, so he’s like…mean.” It’s a funny & illuminating detail in a film full of them."I Feel Stupid" is a great film about teenagers, carried by three uniquely endearing performances. It perfectly captures the playfulness and sarcasm of teenagers, but also the quiet moments of enlightenment (or desperation); for instance, the moment when a young girl sees a friend put on makeup and decides to give it a try herself. Wonderful stuff. The type of short that could or should launch careers. -KA. Directed by Milena Pastreich. Screenplay by Ana Lily Amirpour. Starring Sophia Rose Vail, Samantha Mcculllough, Samuel Wyatt, and Mandell Butler.
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